New human rights festival announced

Deborah Punshon

A festival exploring health and human rights will take place in Glasgow next year.

Declaration will be a mixture of conversation, provocations, performances, and film screenings, and will feature leading writers, performers, campaigners and thinkers from across Scotland and beyond.

The new festival will be held in March

Programmed by the team behind the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival, Declaration is the result of a partnership between NHS Health Scotland, the Mental Health Foundation, the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland (the ALLIANCE) and University of Strathclyde.

Cath Denholm, Director of Strategy, NHS Health Scotland said: “NHS Health Scotland is very happy to support this festival.

“The right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health for all lies at the heart of what the NHS stands for.

“We look forward to taking an active role in the festival next March.”

The festival will be held from March 3 to 6, and the full programme of free events will be released early next year.

Neil Quinn, co-director of the centre for health policy at the University of Strathclyde’s International Public Policy Institute, said: “We are delighted to be a lead partner in Declaration, which will deliver a stimulating programme of events focused on health and human rights.

“We are excited about the learning that will emerge from the festival and the potential for it shaping public policy in Scotland.”